Please Sango!
by 2cul4u
Summary: Sango is a teacher, Kagome is a student, and they both have strange secrets. Wait- doesn't this seem familiar? An A/U Story based on Please Teacher! Sango/Kagome
1. Chapter 1

**Please Sango**

**Chapter One**

**Summary: Sango is a teacher, Kagome is a student, and they both have a strange secret. Wait, doesn't this seem familiar? Warning for fem-slash and sexual suggestion.**

**Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own Inuyasha or related characters. Nor am I associated with Funimation, Cartoon Network, etc, etc. Please enjoy this story while I go and participate in an activity that actually benefits my life.**

"Yo Ayame! Get up already!"

A pretty red haired demoness with green eyes leaned out of a second floor window. "And just who do you think you're talking to, Koga?"

The dark haired, blue eyed wolf demon, who was actually handsome aside from the scowl on his face, half-barked, "You, princess!"

"Well, I'm just trying to look pretty for you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kagome shook her head as she walked past. "Isn't it way to early for all of that?"

"What was that, human?"

Kagome flinched. She hadn't intended for him to hear her. "You guys are being a little loud."

She barely saw him move, but suddenly he was standing right in front of her. "And what's it to you?"

Kagome found herself suddenly annoyed. "My ears, I'd appreciate not going deaf by the time I'm thirty, thank you very much."

Did this guy like picking on girls or something?

To her surprise, Koga smiled approvingly and even laughed. "You know what? You're pretty gutsy for a human. Why don't you look me up in a few years?"

He grinned and ran to his girlfriend's side, who by now was standing in front of her house, stamping her foot impatiently and giving Kagome a decidedly unfriendly look.

'If only you knew.' Kagome shook her head and made a decision to cross to the opposite side of the street from the volatile couple before continuing on her way to school.

Kagome looked like your typical high school student; red and white uniform, medium height with long dark hair, big brown eyes and a pretty round face that would likely thin out as she got older. At fifteen, she was already a great beauty- the problem was that she was really eighteen years old.

"Kagome! Ka-go-me!" Speaking of being in a time warp, Koharu was a seventeen year old with the personality of a six year old. Kagome thought of her as a younger sister- which didn't seem to bother the girl who thought that she was the senior. She was several blocks away and practically skipped to Kagome's side.

"Good morning, Koharu." They wore the same uniform, though Koharu's hugged much more developed curves.

"Morning. Are you excited to meet the new homeroom teacher today?"

"What? When did that happen? Where's Takahashi-sensei?"

Koharu looked confused for a moment, then realization dawned. "Oh, that's right. You were out sick when they announced it. The rumor is that she quit to become a writer or something."

"Wow." Kagome managed to look only slightly uncomfortable at the comment about her being 'out sick'. Doctors were very interested in her condition and several times a month she had to go in for tests. But since not even the staff at school knew about her condition, she was constantly having to call in sick.

"So, what have you heard about this new teacher?"

"Not much, but they say she's young."

They reached school just as the bell rang and went inside to change their shoes at the lockers and head to class.

"Good morning, Kaede-san." The students bowed and remained standing, awaiting instruction.

"Class, I'd like to introduce your new teacher. This is Watanabe-sensei."

All heads craned as the woman entered the classroom. A deep red suit did nothing to conceal her very athletic frame, at the same time she was slender and very tall. Her long dark brown hair was softened by a bang which framed her lovely face with it's chocolate brown eyes accentuated by mauve eye shadow and full lips.

Several students immediately got nosebleeds.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Her friend stared at her with concern.

"Uh, yeah." Kagome's voice was muffled by the sleeve she held over her nose.

There was a general clamor until a loud clack echoed through the classroom. All of the students faced forward again and folded their hands in front of their laps.

"Now, I expect ye all to be on your best behavior." Kaede-san had majored in Japanese History in college and often slipped into using the old style language, especially when someone was on the verge of getting into trouble. She handed the wooden pointer to the new teacher. "Watanabe-sensei, they're all yours."

An awkward silence followed the diminutive, white haired woman's departure, during which Sango walked behind her desk and surveyed all of her new students.

With a nod of what might have been approval, she cleared her throat. "Alright, you may be seated."

After rear ends went down so fast that they almost slipped out of their chairs, she took attendance.

"You have a crush on the new teacher, don't you?" Koharu asked after meeting Kagome outside of her classroom.

"What? No!"

She raised an eyebrow and Kagome laughed nervously. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only when you turn red like that. Then again, I'm surprised her panties didn't catch fire, the way you kept staring at her-"

"So, how's Miroku-san?"

It was Koharu's turn to turn red, and she slapped Kagome hard on the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"One more year and we can finally get married."

"Uh…right." If her life were an anime, this would be the part when a little sweat drip appeared on Kagome's forehead.

"Kagome!" A one-of-a-kind joyous laugh accompanied the shout.

As the twelve year old approached, Koharu leaned in to say, "Kagome Higarashi fan club member number one. Do you think she'll be jealous?"

Rin was all long dark hair and bright smiles with a bubbly personality to match. Kagome was sure she could make a lot of friends if she wanted to, but for now all of her attention seemed to be focused on her beloved idol, Kagome.

She hugged the older girl as if she hadn't seen her in ages and pushed herself between Kagome and Koharu to hold her hand as they walked.

"I stopped past to see your mom on my way home."

"Really? That's nice."

"Your mom says that you have a new neighbor, but they weren't home. I asked her if I could come by for dinner so that I could meet them."

"That sounds…fun." And a little clandestine, Kagome didn't add. Kagome had a feeling that this was Rin's way of scoping out the competition. "But maybe I'm just being vain. She is just a little kid after all."

"Kagome, why are you talking to yourself?"

"And what are you thinking about, because it sounds a little creepy."

Both Koharu and Rin were giving her strange looks.

Another sweat drop moment. "I wasn't really thinking anything…"

"Mom, I'm home."

"Hello, Kagome. How was your day?"

"Great!" Kagome kicked off her shoes and went straight to the kitchen. "We have a new teacher."

"Really? What happened to Takahashi-sensei?" Mrs. Higarashi looked like an older version of her daughter with short hair and a maternal air about her.

"She's a writer now."

Kagome reached over her mother's shoulder for a freshly cooked omelet, but the plate was moved out of her reach.

"Those are for our guest."

"Guest?" Her mind immediately went back to the earlier conversation with Rin.

Mrs. Higarashi organized the plate and Kagome followed her into the adjacent dining room where a woman was sipping tea. She looked up at their arrival, revealing mauve lidded eyes and soft pink painted lips.

"Watanabe-sensei, you're our new neighbor?"

**A/N So, do you love it? Hate it? Feel the need to tell me how wrong lesbianism is? Well, sound off, I'd love to here from you. ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Last Time: **"Are you ready to meet the new home room teacher?" "You have a crush…" "Is it that obvious?" "Watanabe-sensei, you're our new neighbor?"

**Please Sango**

**Chapter Two**

Sango looked surprised for a moment, but then she laughed and bowed in greeting. "Yes I am. It's good to see you again, Ms. Higarashi."

Kagome felt a push from behind as Mrs. Higarashi moved past her into the room. "Kagome, don't be rude."

She put the tray, a full bento, on the table in front of the younger woman.

Sango was practically drooling. "Wow, this looks great Mrs. Higarashi. Thank you very much!" She tore into the food at a frightening rate.

"You're welcome, Ms. Watanabe. I'm surprised you've gone so long without a decent meal."

Mrs. Higarashi turned to her daughter. "Why don't you entertain our guest while I fix something for you to eat, Kagome?"

"Okay, mom." Her new teacher, the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, was sitting in her home eating lunch.

'No, this isn't strange at all.' Kagome smiled and sat down.

"Your mom is a really kind person. I just mentioned that I hadn't eaten anything but ramen in a while and she invited me right over."

"You mean kidnapped?" Kagome smiled knowingly, noticing the emphasis Sango had placed on the word 'invited'.

Sango laughed. "You can put it that way. But honestly, I'm grateful. I'm not much of a cook." She said all of this between bites. "Do you cook, too?"

"I can manage." Images of slightly brown omelets came to mind. "Maybe I can cook for you sometime, Watanabe-sensei." Did she just flirt with her teacher? Sango didn't seem to notice.

"I would love to try your cooking."

Kagome's heart skipped a beat.

Mrs. Higarashi came in with a light dish of seasoned noodles and pickled radish and Kagome dug in.

"Thanks, mom."

"Watanabe-san is haing dinner with us tonight."

Sango nodded. "That reminds me, I have some boxes to unpack before then."

"Kagome, see our guest to the door." Mrs. Higarashi cleared Sango's dish from the table and was headed for the kitchen before Kagome could even answer.

"It was nice to really meet you, Ms. Higarashi. I'm looking for dinner tonight."

"So am I." Kagome blushed suddenly, and with a quick bow, opened the door.

"Oh Kagome, I forgot to tell Ms. Watanabe what time dinner is, could you go over for me?"

"Okay mom…I love you, too, Sota. Bye now." Kagome hung up the phone and sighed. Sota was fifteen now and sounded a lot more mature than she felt.

They had decided that things would be less complicated if it was just Kagome and their mother. Besides, he had settled nicely into a private school for boys and helping Grandpa out at the temple.

The door opened a few inches when Kagome knocked, but no one answered.

"Hello? Watanabe-sensei?"

"I'm here." The voice sounded faint. Kagome walked into the living room full of covered furniture and cardboard boxes.

"Watanabe-sensei?"

"I've got a lot done. But there's so much more to do."

"O…kay?" The bedroom door was open, and after a moment's hesitation, Kagome peeked inside.

For a moment, everything seemed to stop. Two faces stared at Kagome in shock while she looked back with a matching expression. It seemed like they could have stayed that way forever- but flames appeared out of nowhere and Kagome found herself pinned to the ground.

She let out a cry of surprise that had Sango on her feet and grabbing the fur of the demon cat's neck. "Kilala, no!"

Kilala stopped with it's fangs only centimeters from Kagome's neck and obediently padded away to keep a watchful eye from the corner of the room.

"Th-That's a real animal form demon…"

"And who is this?" the specter of an old man projecting from a sword sheath asked.

"Did that thing just talk?" Kagome scooted back from this even more startling sight.

"Kagome?" Sango started when she recognized her, and somewhere in the back of her mind, it registered that her teacher had used her first name.

"I'll thank you not to refer to me as a 'thing' young lady." The specter's face grew larger and loomed over her.

"Eh?"

"Be nice." Sango moved to grab the sheath and the image was pulled back towards it.

Kagome just sat dazed for a moment. "Okay, what's going on here?"

Sango looked to the other two occupants of the room as if they might come up with an answer.

"I think our cover is pretty much blown." The old specter suggested, scratching his head, and the demon cat mewed in agreement.

Sango sighed, and put her hands together in a pleading gesture. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."

Kagome thought about it for a moment as she looked around the trio; a talking sheath, a supposedly extinct animal form demon and her now mysterious teacher, but only for a moment. 'I didn't think there was anyone out there stranger than me.'

"I promise."

"Kagome? You were gone for quite a while." Mrs. Higarashi wore a concerned look as she came out of the dining room.

"Sorry about that Mrs. Higarashi, she was helping me with some things." She managed to give Kagome a significant look without her mother noticing.

"Alright. Well, Rin was here to help me set the table, so why don't we all sit down?"

"Rin poked her head out of the kitchen archway. "Hi Kagome!"

Then she smiled up at Sango. "Wow, you're really pretty! Will you sit beside me?"

Kagome blushed and snuck a look at the older- much older- woman as they walked into the dining room. She couldn't help but be a little frightened that she would suddenly wrinkle up like a prune and crumble into dust.

'Then again, I'm one to talk.' Still, five hundred years was significantly longer than just three.

*earlier*

"What do you know of the 'Warring States' era?"

Kagome was a bit thrown by the change of subject. "Uh…Five hundred years ago. Human and demon landowners battled for territory. There was no cease to the bloodshed."

It was a very significant time for the Higarashi family, who were a long line of holy men and women and a keeper of many of it's artifacts, so she was more familiar with it than most.

"Right. And aside from priests and priestesses who would only use their powers in defense of their people, the field wasn't very level for humans. For that reason, a village of demon slayers arose, a people who trained specifically to face off with the most powerful demons. That was one family among them that was especially powerful."

Kagome hadn't heard of such a thing, but felt that they were now, perhaps, reaching the point of this impromptu history lesson. She was right.

"One night a powerful lord sent for these elite warriors to defeat a very powerful spider ogre demon who had possessed his son. But it was a trap, the demon possessed one of the warriors and forced him to slaughter his compatriots."

A pause here, and Sango seemed to be in great pain. But she pulled herself together and continued. "One of the warriors was gravely injured, but with the last of her strength, she defeated the warrior and the demon. To honor her, the lord decided to bury this warrior in a sacred well that housed the remains of defeated demons, where her spirit could continue to guard humanity."

'A sacred well?' Kagome's eyes widened with the possibility.

Standing, Sango went over to a pile of cardboard boxes and pulled out a roll of black and pink fabric, revealed to be a uniform when she unfolded it, and some sort of ancient mask- though it didn't look more than a few years old.

Kagome looked from the schoolteacher to the mask and back again. "Watanabe-sensei, you?"

"Yep." The specter chimed in. "Just about scared me to death when she come to. I'd been thrown into the well, too. But unlike Sango, I was awake the whole time and able to watch the world change and grow."

"With his help, I've been able to adjust to this new world and make a life for myself over the past five years. I was seventeen when I awoke." This last bit of information was added for the benefit of the questioning look on Kagome's face.

'Twenty-three, that would make her five years older than me.'

Kagome shook hear head violently. "More like five hundred and five- she's from the past for goodness sake!"

"Five hundred and five what?"

Kagome slapped her hands over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. Sango gave her a perplexed look.

"I believe you." She meant it. "And I won't tell anyone, but-" she added in a joking tone, "you should really learn to close your door if you're going to keep those kinds of secrets."

Sango didn't seem to know what to say to that, so she only offered a grateful smile.

"By the way, my mom says that dinner's ready. We should hurry up, she's probably freaking out as it is.

**A/N Wow, five pages. Before the author's note, that is. By the way, I'm thinking of making a spin-off of Sota's own story featuring monsters and magical powers in a school setting, maybe very slightly shounen-ai. Your opinion matters!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Last Time: **A talking sheath, a supposedly extinct animal form demon and…mysterious teacher. 'I didn't think there was anyone out there stranger than me.' Five hundred and five years… "Just about scared me to death when she come to." "I won't tell anyone."

**Please Sango**

**Chapter Three**

'So this was her strategy.' Kagome thought to herself, noticing that Rin's arrangement had put her as far as possible from her teacher.

They sat on either side of the girl while Kagome's mom sat at the head of the table. Though Rin managed to seem innocent enough, smiling and chatting with Sango.

"Where are you from, Watanabe-san?"

"The Kyoto district."

"Is your family still there?"

"No." She didn't elaborate.

"Why did you come here?" The questions were down right invasive, but Sango handled them gracefully.

"To become a schoolteacher."

"My teacher," Kagome added, wanting to flesh out the conversation to include everyone and perhaps change the subject.

"Wow! You're Kagome's teacher?" Rin's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Lucky!"

Sango laughed. "I suppose so."

The conversation became pretty tame after that, but by the end of it, Sango looked as if she had never had a more harrowing meal in her life. Kagome felt the same way.

Rin's smile when she left seemed genuine.

"Would you two care for some dessert?"

"Yes."

"No."

Teacher and student looked at each other.

"No."

"Yes."

Mrs. Higarashi raised an eyebrow. "I'll go get the plates and you two can work it out while I'm gone."

After she disappeared into the kitchen, Sango turned to Kagome. "Why is it that whenever your mother talks to me, I feel like she knows things she shouldn't?"

"I think it's a mom thing. I've found that the best way to avoid suspicion is to act natural." She put a hand on Sango's shoulder, then blushed at the liberty she had taken.

They flew apart when Mrs. Higarashi came through the door with a huge smile, carrying a small cake and three plates on a tray.

"Dessert's here."

"Th-Thanks Mrs. Higarashi." Sango gave Kagome a look that said, 'was that natural enough?'

After the night before, Kagome didn't think that seeing Watanabe-sensei again could have as big an impact as the first time, but when she stepped into the classroom in a close-fitting black dress suit and draped purple top, Kagome's nose popped another vessel.

"This is the best class ever!" A boy sitting a few seats back announced, twin trails of blood flowing from his nose.

All of this bleeding can't be healthy," one girl noted while looking wide-eyed around the room at her injured classmates.

Sango was in a cheery mood that day, due at least in part to having someone to share her secret with. Once or twice during class when their eyes met, they would smile at each other as if laughing at an inside joke. They had a personal connection, and it gave Kagome a very good feeling.

Good until she got her test back from the day before.

"Aah! This is terrible!"

Some of her classmates looked over her shoulder. "Ugh! You're right."

"You'll never pass the entrance exams with scores like that."

Kagome sighed and dropped her head heavily on her desk.

"Ms. Higarashi, Mr. Abe, Ms. Ichigaro, please stay after class today."

"Yes, sempai."

"Ms. Higarashi, what are you doing here?"

The teen lifted her head, but remained bowing. "I have a favor to ask you, Watanabe-sensei."

"Come in." Sango moved aside to give her enough space to come in from the walkway and closed the door behind her.

Kagome looked around and smiled approvingly. "Good."

"Excuse me?" Sango looked around, but didn't see anything special in her apartment.

"You know I'm out sick a lot at school, so I'm really behind in my schoolwork. At your makeup class today, I feel like a caught up on a month's worth of classes and I was thinking…"

"You were thinking?" Sango asked when she stopped for breath.

"Maybe you could tutor me, and in exchange I could help you get your apartment together."

"Ms. Higarashi, you don't have to do anything like that. I'd be glad to help."

Kagome bowed again. "I really appreciate it, and thank you very much. But please let me help you, too!"

The determination in her voice was surprising and moving. Sango smiled. "Okay, Ms. Higarashi. Then, I should thank you, too."

"Hey, was that Kagome and hottie Watanabe-sensei going into that apartment?"

"What?" Several heads turned at once.

"Kagome does live in that complex, but she lives in that apartment," Rei Takanada pointed to the middle door on the second floor. Sango lived in the last apartment to the right.

"Hey, why don't we just check it out."

Honestly, Sango hadn't known what to expect when she answered the door. The only people who knew where she lived were the Higarashis and, of course, Kaede-san. She was surprised to see several of her students and a few she didn't know."

"Hello- Oh my, are you alright?"

One boy passed out at the sight of her in a pair of grey cotton shorts, white t-shirt and white headscarf.

Kagome poked her head around the corner when she heard the loud thump. There was a scarf holding back her hair as well, and a smudge on her left cheek.

"Do you need help, Watanabe-sensei?"

"No, thank you." Sango sat a cup down for each of them and one for herself from a tray and poured out tea. "The cookies are a few days old, but they're from a nice bakery around the corner. Ryu Ichigaro, Rei Takenada, Yukiko Michiru, I recognize you from my class. Who are the rest of you?"

"I'm Kieko Ikuharu, ma'am."

"And I'm Koharu Ichigawa," Kagome's best friend answered. "So, Kagome's helping you out in exchange for tutoring?"

"Mm-hm."

"I could use all the help I can get," Kagome added.

"Yeah, that's true."

"Uh huh."

"Sure enough."

"Hey! You don't have to agree with me so much!"

Koharu laughed. "Lighten up, we're just teasing…sort of."

Everyone laughed.

Sango was looking into her teacup thoughtfully. "Actually, I was the same way in school." She smiled at the surprised looks she received. "This might make you think less of me as a teacher, but where I grew up, the education of women wasn't given much thought. When I left there, it was like starting over again. So don't worry, Ms. Higarashi, if you're struggling right now. I know you can do this."

Kagome blushed at the compliment.

Koharu looked from one to the other, then stood up. "Well, thanks for the tea, Watanabe-sensei, but I think it's time for us to go."

"What? But we just got here!" Kieko complained as Koharu herded the group to the front door. "Because of 'that'. We really enjoyed talking to you, Watanabe-sensei."

Koharu bowed, prompting the others to do the same, though not without some confusion.

"Well, that was…odd," Sango commented after they had left."

"I'll say," Kagome laughed, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow. She had been nervous the whole time that one of her friends would make their way to Sango's bedroom and discover her secret.

Surveying the room- the uncovered furniture and neatly arranged personal items- Sango smiled.

"Why don't we take a break from cleaning and look at your homework?"

"Sango, do you really think it's wise to trust the girl?"

"Kagome? It might seem silly, but I feel in my heart that we really can."

The old man scratched his ghostly head. "But are you sure your emotions aren't clouding your judgment? She's a very lovely girl."

Sango rolled over on her sleeping mat to face him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He gave her a sharp look that went right through her defenses and Sango softened. "So she's beautiful? I like to think that I'm still a good judge of character."

The old man hummed and said no more.

**A/N** **Some authors don't like their own work, I do. Of course, there's always room for improvement, but I'm not about to stress over it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Time: **"Why is it that whenever your mother talks to me, I feel like she knows things she shouldn't?" "Aah! This is terrible!" "Maybe you could tutor me…?" "So she's beautiful? I like to think that I'm still a good judge of character."

**Please Sango**

**Chapter Four**

"Wow Kagome, your grades have really gone up since you started tutoring."

Kagome held up the test proudly for her friends to see.

"I'm so jealous, you weren't even in class for most of this material."

"Okay, students, calm down." Today Sango was dressed in a short brown and tan plaid skirt, black camisole and brown blazer. "I've recently been informed that the class trip to Okinawa is next week, and all students still paying dues must pay the remaining balance within the next three days."

Not wanting to use temple funds to pay for extra-curricular activities as well as the household expenses, Kagome used her connections at the hospital to get a part time job candy-striping to pay for the trip herself. There was just enough extra for a new bathing suit and a little spending money. Despite this, she knew that her mother would slip a little extra into her suitcase or pocketbook, and she was grateful for that.

"Hey, Kagome," Rei leaned in close with a wicked smile on her face, "do you think we'll get to see hottie Watanabi-sensei in a swimsuit?"

Kagome felt her eye twitch involuntarily at the thought. Her crush was pretty obvious, and Rei didn't mind teasing her about it.

"Higarashi, are you alright?" One boy asked, and the whole class was looking at her strangely.

Kagome looked down and realized that she had ripped her test in half.

It was dark as Kagome entered the well-house.

"Watanabe-sensei?"

Sango stood before the bone-eater's well with her back to the entrance, clad in the black and pink bodysuit. Kagome tried to touch her, but the demon slayer didn't even seem to notice her presence as she leaned forward and jumped.

Kagome gasped and reached for her, but a burst of light knocked her backwards onto the platform. Just as the light faded away, a woman's screams echoed through the well house, followed by a wicked laugh in a male voice.

"Sango?" She got up and rushed to the well again, only to watch as it was covered over by impossibly large spider webs. And inside the dark void, eight red eyes leered evilly at her.

A nurse rushed in moments after Kagome awoke screaming.

"Are you alright, Ms. Higarashi?"

Kagome breathed deeply as reality set in. "Yeah, it was just a bad dream."

Mrs. Higarashi sighed as she walked around picking things up and putting them down in the spotless apartment. She had expected to be alone this week, and if it were only that, she wouldn't feel bothered. But it was more than that.

"Who was that, Kagome?" she had asked three days ago when Kagome had hung up the phone after a quiet conversation. She already suspected that it wasn't anyone from the temple, because they would have taken time to speak to her as well.

"Dr. Nguyen, he wants me to come in Friday."

Dr. Nguyen was a specialist from China who had studied Kagome's case extensively.

"This Friday?" That was the day Kagome's class was leaving for their trip. Dr. Nguyen knew that, he was the one who had helped her get the job to pay for it.

Kagome nodded. "There are some new tests he'd like to run."

There were always new tests to run, and Mrs. Higarashi could see in her daughter's eyes that it would crush her to have to miss this trip on top of all of the school days.

"I guess that means I'll be missing my trip, huh?"

Somehow she had wandered into her daughter's room. Her suitcase was still sitting on the bed, open and mostly packed.

There was the new green bathing suit she had gotten especially for the trip, and the digital camera she had borrowed from Sota.

She hated to think of Kagome alone in that cold, sterile room, but she couldn't bring herself to go see her. First her husbands death, and then her daughter's illness, Mrs. Higarashi hadn't been able to set foot in a hospital since Kagome had come home. And maybe that was selfish of her, because she could tell that Kagome hated it, too.

She sat on the edge of Kagome's bed and was really beginning to resent herself when the phone rang.

Sango had forsaken her usual high ponytail and was wearing her hair loose. In a blue and white striped blouse, cream sweater and blue pleated skirt, she looked casual, but still appropriate to chaperone a class trip.

Students moved back and forth between the shops like humming birds among flowers, squealing over this and murmuring about that. A few kids had already been shooed away from some of the adult merchandise, but the overall mood was a jovial one- even for the teacher chaperones.

"Hey, Watanabe-sensei, you always dress so tastefully, what do you think of these earrings?"

"Look, Watanabe-sensei, a little dancing frog!"

"Watanabe-sensei, I can't find Abe-kun…Oh, never mind."

It was noticeable that the students were paying more attention to her than the other teachers, but Sango chalked it up to being newer and younger.

"Watanabe-sensei? I was thinking about getting Kagome something so that she would feel less left out, could you help me choose something?"

Sango recognized the girl instantly. Rei Takenada, usually a bright, bubbly girl, looked very determined at that moment.

Sango felt a little guilty that although she had been thinking of Kagome this entire trip, she hadn't thought of getting something for the girl herself.

"Of course, Ms. Takenada."

The young girl blinked, then smiled. "You can call me Koharu, ma'am."

They ended up picking out a thin silver i.d. bracelet with a red and green bauble set on either side of a square plaque that read 'Friends Don't Forget'. Underneath were printed the word 'Okinawa' and the year.

Some of the students overheard what they were doing and Sango heard one of them whisper to her friend, "I kind of always thought Kagome was faking, but she wouldn't have missed this trip for anything, would she?"

"I know, it's so sad. Can you imagine being the only one who didn't get to come?"

Sango became very thoughtful.

Drifting in a drug-induced haze, Kagome wondered what all of her friends were doing. This was a small town, and although she had grown up in Tokyo, much of her time was spent at the temple. Was Okinawa as much fun as everyone said?

And Watanabe-sensei. Kagome pictured her, lovely and smiling. She was so beautiful, would she meet someone in Okinawa? There was no way someone like her would go unnoticed…

Kagome was drifting off to sleep when she thought she heard her mother's voice. She had to be dreaming, her mother would never set foot in a hospital. But the heavy feeling in her head and limbs from the sedatives they had given her told her that she was not dreaming, she really did hear her mother's voice in the hall calling for a doctor.

Then there was a discussion in the hall that rose in volume to an almost shout at times, which was especially surprising coming from her mother. The next thing Kagome knew, her mother came marching into the room like a soldier fresh from war, trailing a meek little nurse.

The nurse wiped her arm with an alcohol pad and injected her with something, then stepped back as her mother approached and took her face in both hands, her expression softening.

"You came to see me," Kagome said incredulously, her head feeling lighter by the second.

Mrs. Higarashi became a little tearful. "I've come to take you home."

"You should be feeling less sleepy in a few minutes." There was a strange quality to the nurse's voice and when Kagome looked up, she noticed that she was a child-like demon with pale skin and white hair. The woman nodded quietly and left the room.

Well, that seemed a little ironic.

But her mother hugged her and Kagome forgot all about the nurse. "You don't ever have to come here again."

Kagome closed her eyes and smiled gratefully. "Mom."

**A/N I'll admit it, this chapter gave me a little (lot of) trouble. It's so heavily edited. And now, dear readers, I need your help. There are two versions of the next chapter, either Kagome will go to Okinawa and further her relationship with Sango, or stay home and watch Koharu try to further her relationship with Miroku. Both will happen eventually, but I need some input as to which one you would rather see now.**


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